Rap Sheet
Links on R&P from around the web
Obama Endorses Gay Marriage Measure on Washington Ballot
posted on October 30, 2012At The Oregonian, Jeff Mapes reports that, through a reelection press aide, President Obma has expressed support for the same-sex marriage ballot measure in Washington State. “While the president does not weigh in on every single ballot measure in every state, the president believes in treating everyone fairly and equally, with dignity and respect. Washington’s same-sex marriage law would treat all Washington couples equally, and that is why the President supports a vote approving Referendum 74,” said Paul Bell. Zach Silk, the campaign manager for the pro-referendum movement, said that the endorsement from President Obama “puts an extra gust of wind in our sails.”
Two St. Louis Religious Conventions Highlight the Bookends of Faith and Politics
posted on October 30, 2012Tim Townsend reports for The St. Louis Post-Dispatch about the annual meetings of two religious groups, both of which will be held in St. Louis in the coming weeks. One group, the Missouri Baptist Convention, is comprised mostly of white evangelicals who lean right politically. The members of the Church of God in Christ are mostly black and are left-leaning. “While, officially, politics will exist only in the background at both meetings, as worship services and church business matters take precedent, it’s not a surprise to church leaders that the looming date of Nov. 6 will be the elephant―and donkey―in the room at both meetings,” writes Townsend.
Read at The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Pope Prays for the Victims of Hurricane Sandy
posted on October 29, 2012At a mass this past Sunday in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict XVI prayed for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, reports The Telegraph. Twenty-one people have been killed in the Caribbean as a result of the storm. “I wish to assure those who have been affected by this natural disaster of my closeness and my thoughts,” the Pope said. “I invite everyone to pray in solidarity, to alleviate the pain of the families of the victims and to offer support to the thousands affected by the damage.”
How Christian Fundamentalism Feeds the Toxic Partisanship of US Politics
posted on October 29, 2012At The Guardian Katherine Stewart argues that Christian fundamentalists are most responsible for the vitriolic nature of America’s political environment. “I don’t believe for a moment that this hysterical voice that screeches in America’s political sphere is the authentic voice of religion in America,” Stewart acknowledges. Yet despite the fact that groups like the American Family Association, which Stewart calls “a radical rightwing evangelical policy group,” are in the religious minority, Stewart asks, “why is the loudest religion in American politics today so much about hate?”
Pro-Life Means Anti-Drone
posted on October 29, 2012The American Conservatives’ Jack Hunter writes, “My pro-life position is simple: Life is sacred.” For Hunter, this means both the efficacy and the ethics of America’s increased reliance on drone attacks, which often result in the deaths of bystanders, are problematic. “[F]or pro-lifers, there must be a question: If life is sacred, how can we justify killing so many innocent children?”
Read at The American Conservative
Why I Am Pro-Life
posted on October 29, 2012Referring to statements made by Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, that pregnancies, even those produced as the result of a rape, “God intended to happen,” The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman writes, “hard-line conservatives have gone to new extremes lately in opposing abortion.” Friedman argues that being “pro-life” should be about more than opposing abortion without exception. “In my world, you don’t get to call yourself ‘pro-life’ and be against common-sense gun control—like banning public access to the kind of semiautomatic assault rifle, designed for warfare, that was used recently in a Colorado theater … You can call yourself a ‘pro-conception-to-birth, indifferent-to-life conservative.'”
Ayman Al Zawahri, Al Qaeda Leader, Urges Muslims to Kidnap Westerners
posted on October 29, 2012“The leader of al-Qaida has urged Muslims to kidnap Westerners to exchange for imprisoned jihadists, including a blind cleric serving a life sentence in the United States for a 1993 plot to blow up New York City landmarks,” reports the Associated Press. In a video-typed statement, published widely on jihadist websites, Ayman al-Zawahri also insisted that Egypt’s new government must be based strictly on Islamic law. “Shariah must be the source of legislation … This is the first step to cleanse the constitution and laws in order to implement Islamic Shariah law.”
Swing States Put American Catholics in a Decisive Position
posted on October 29, 2012“Once again, Catholics will decide who will live in the White House for the next four years,” writes Michael Sean Winters at The National Catholic Reporter. Catholics do not make a majority of the American electorate. But because of their concentration in swing states, and because “they mirror the general electorate,” in that they are almost evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, “Catholics will nonetheless break one way or the other in the final weeks of the race, and that will decide whether President Barack Obama or Gov. Mitt Romney wins,” writes Winter.
Read at National Catholic Reporter
Evangelical Support Grows for Romney
posted on October 29, 2012At The Los Angeles Times, Mitchell Landsberg writes that more and more evangelicals are lining up to support Mitt Romney. Because of Romney’s moderate record, and because he is a Mormon, “Six months ago, many Republicans fretted that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney could never appeal to conservative evangelical voters, an essential element of the GOP base,” writes Landsberg. Yet support for Romney among evangelicals is surging, due in large measure to the “vast effort [to sell] Romney to conservative evangelicals, led in part by … Faith and Freedom founder Ralph Reed, and by such figures as Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family.”
I’m a Democrat Because I’m a Mormon
posted on October 29, 2012Religion News Service’s Jana Riess endorses President Obama based in large measure, she asserts, on her own Mormon faith. “As a Mormon, it’s my job to ensure that the poor are cared for,” writes Riess. “I believe the Book of Mormon’s explicit claims that our standing with God rests upon how we treat the poor—not just as individuals, but as societies.”